Control system for pantograph-trolleys.



w. SCHAAKE & A. H. CANDEE.

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PANTOGRAPH TROLLEYS.

APPLICATION FiLED SEPT-10.1915.

1,224,531 6 I Patented May 1, 1917.

WITNESSES: INVENTORSJ- W/H/am Schaake 5r Andrew H. Candee.

ATTORNEY Wa ren s'ra rns rena orrrcn.

. WILLIAM SCHAAKE, 0F PITTSBURGH, AND 'ANDREW' H. CANIDEE; OEWILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TOWESTINGHOU SE ELECTRIC-'AN'DMANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PANTOGRAPH-TROLLEYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 10, I915; SeriaI'No. 50,083.

To all'whom it mag concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM SCH-AAKE, acitizen of the United States, and a residentof Pittsburgh, in the countyof Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, and AM Dnnw H. GANDnn, acitizenof the United States, and a resident of VVilkinsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Control Systemsfor Pantograph-Trolleys, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to trolleys for electric locomotives or othervehicles, and specifically to electro-pneumatic control systems forpantograph trolleys using fluidactuat'ed devices for lowering and theexhaust from the fluid-actuated devices to'prevent rapid raising of thetrolleys.

One object of our invention-is-to provide a spring-raised andfluid-lowered pantogr'aph trolley having means for automaticallysupplying a fluid under pressure to it's main fluid-actuated devicebefore the pantograph can be released and raised, thus insuringaslowraising'of the trolley.

Heretofor'e', pantograp'h trolleys have been constructed that werelowered by fluid. actuated devicesand that utilized theexhaust of thefluid from the fluid-actuated device to prevent rapid raising of thetrolley, when released: It was found, however, that the fluid in thedevice must be under pressure at the time the trolley was released" and,therefore, before releasing the trolley, it'was necessary for theoperatorto perform the independent operation of supplyingfluid, underpressure, to the main fluid-actuated device.

In our invention, whenever the release switch is closed by the operator,fluid is automaticall y supplied to the fluid-actuated device before theunlocking means can be operated, thusinsuring slow raising of thetrolley.

The single figure of the accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic view ofacontrol system embodying our invention.

Referring to the drawing, a pantograph trolley 1 is operated by acombined spring and fiiiid-actuated device 2, is retained n it's loweredposition by a latch 3 and is released by a fluid-operated unlatchingdevice 4. The fluid-actuated device 2 is controlled by a valve 5 and theunlatching device 4 is governed by a' valve 6. The two valves 5 and 6-are controlled by a pneumatically operated relay 7 and manually operatedswitches 8 and 8 The pantograph trolley 1 is of astandard type havingtwo sets of arms 9 and 10, the adjacent ends of which are pivotallyconnected. The upper ends of arms 9 are con nect'ed to a shoe 1-1 andthe lower ends of the armslO' are attached to the top of a locomotive orcar.

The fluid-actuated device 2 is connected to the pantograph arms-1O bymeans of links 12-thatare connected tomovable pistons 13 which aredisposed within a cylinder 13 The pistons 13 are actuated inonedirection to raise the trolley 1 by springs 14' that are located withinthe cylinder 13*. Operation of the pistons 13 in the other direction tolower the trolley 1 is effected by a suitable operating fluid whichisintroduced into the cylinders 13 intermediate the pistons in a mannerto be hereinafter set forth.

The latch 3 is connected to a piston 15 that is movably disposed withina cylinder 15' of the unlatching device 4 and is held in its closedposition by a spring 16 that is contained within the cylinder 15. Inorder to restrain the trolley 1 in its lowered position, the latch 8engages a detent 3 that is conveniently associated with the shoe 11.

The valve 5 comprises a. body portion 41 having an inlet chamber 42 atone end and an outlet chamber 43 at the other end. The body portion 41'contains'a passage 45 connecting' the two chambers 42 and 43 with aport 44. A valve stem 17 is mounted within the passage 45 and isprovided with two valve plugs 19 and 20 that are so placed that one plugcloses a passage from one of the chambers 42 or'43 into the pipe 23while the corresponding passage from the other chamber'remainsopen. Thestem 17 is moved in one direction by an electromagnet-lSto openth'e'valve 5 and in the opposite direction by a spring" 51 to" close thevalve.

Thevalve 6, which is similar in construction to the valve 5, includes astem 40 operated in one direction by an electromagnet 39, and isnormally biased to its open position'by' a spring 50. The valve 6 isconnected to a fluid-supply pipe 21 through a port 30 and to theunlocking cylinder 15 by a pipe 31.

The pneumatic relay 7 comprises a cylinder 52 and a piston 25 that iscontained therein and is operated in one direction by fluid suppliedfrom a pipe 23 which has connection with the port 44 of the valve 5, andin a reverse direction by a spring 26 when the valve is relieved ofoperating fluid. A switch member 27, that is actuated by the piston 25is adapted to engage contact terminals 28 or contact terminals 29,according to the position of the relay.

The pipe 23 is connected to a pipe 32 between two diaphragms 33 and 34which have very small openings through them for the passage of thefluid. The respective ends of the pipe 32 are connected to thefluid-actuated device 2 and the relay 7.

The trolley may be lowered from the position shown by manually operatingthe movable member of the switch 8 to bridge the contact terminals 36and complete a circuit including battery 35 and electromagnet 18. Thevalve 5, thus operated by the electromagnet 18, connects thefluid-operated device 2 to the fluid-supply pipe 21 to compress springs14 and lower the trolley into cooperative engagement with the latch 3 bywhich it is held in position. The relay 7 also will be operated at thistime, but will be ineffective.

In order to unlatch the trolley, the movable member of the switch 8 ismanually operated to bridge contact terminals 37 and complete a circuitfrom the positive terminal of a battery 35, including the switch 27-28and the electromagnet 18, to the negative terminal of the battery. Themagnet 18 is energized and actuates the valve plugs 19 and 20 to openthe passage 45 to the inlet chamber 42 and to close the passage 45 tothe outlet chamber 43. Thus, fluid from the supply pipe 21 passesthrough the valve 5 and pipe 32, where parallel paths are provided, onethrough the diaphragm 33 to the fluid-operated device 2 and the otherthrough the diaphragm 34 to the relay 7.

The relay 7 operates slowly, by reason of the diaphragm 34, to allow thefluid pressure in the fluid-actuated device 2 to be raised to apredetermined point before it moves the switch member 27 from engagementwith contact terminals 28, breaking the circuit through theelectromagnet 18 of the valve 5, and causing the switch member 27 toengage the contact terminals 29. The breaking of the circuit through theelectromagnet 18 releases the valve 5, opens the port 44 to the outletchamber and closes the connection from the inlet chamber 42. Thecylinder 13 of the fluid-actuated device 2 is thus opened to theatmosphere through pipe 32, diaphragm 33, pipe 23 and valve 5, and asimilar communication is established for the relay 7 through pipe 32,diaphragm 34 and valve 5. The release of the fluid from the device 2 andthe relay 7 is very slow because of the small openings in the diaphragms33 and 34.

WVhen sufficient fluid is furnished to the relay 7 to operate it, theswitch member 27 engages the contact terminals 29 to close a circuitthrough the battery 35 which includes contact terminals 37 and switch 8,contact terminals 29, switch member 27, and electromagnet 39, to operatethe valve 6 and connect the unlocking device 4 through the pipe 31 tothe fluid-supply pipe 21. The trolley will thus be unlatched by thefluid-operated unlatching device 4 and, as the springs 14 actuate thepistons 13 to raise the trolley, the fluid, which has already beensupplied to the cylinder 13 of the fluid-actuated device 2 will beslowly forced through the diaphragm 33, whereby a cushioning action iseffected which insures a slow raising of the trolley.

Various modifications in the control system for the trolley and means ofoperation therefor may be eflected without departing from the spirit andscope of our invention, and we desire, therefore, that only suchlimitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the. appended claims.

We claim as our invention: 1. The combination with a pantograph trolley,and means for operating the trolley including a main fluid-actuatedlowering device, a latch and a-;pneumatically operated mechanism fortripping said latch, of means for automatically supplying fluid underpressure to the main fluid-actuated device before it is supplied to thepneumatic tripping mechanism.

2. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operatingthe trolley including a main fluid-actuated lowering de vice, a latch,and a pneumatically operated mechanism for tripping said latch, of meansfor preventing the operation of the tripping mechanism until the mainfluid-actuated device has been supplied with fluid under pressure.

3. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operatingthe trolley including a main fluid-actuated lowering device and amechanical raising means a latch and a pneumatically operated mec anismfor tripping said latch, of means for automatically supplying fluidunder pres sure to the main fluid-actuated device before it is suppliedto the tripping mechanism, and

means for permitting the fluid within the main fluid-actuated device tobe slowly released and to cause a slow raising of the trolley by theraising means.

4. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operatingthe trolley including a main fluid cylinder, means for latching thetrolley in its lowered position, and means for unlatching the trolleyincluding a fluid cylinder, of means for supplying fluid automaticallyto the main fluid cylinder before it is supplied to the unlatchingcylinder.

5. The combination with a pantograph trolley, means for operating thetrolley including a main fluid cylinder, a latch for thetrollev. meansfor unlatching the trolley including a fluid cylinder, a pneumaticallyoperated relay, an electricallyv operated valve for controlling theadmission of fluid to the unlatching cylinder, and a second electricallyoperated valve for controlling the admission of fluid to the mainoperating cylinder and to the relay, of means for preventing theoperation of the first valve until the second valve has been operated.

6. The combination with a pantograph trolley, means for operating thetrolley including a main fluid lowering cylinder, a latch, apneumatically operated unlatching device, a pneumatically operatedrelay, an electrically operated valve for controlling the operation ofthe unlatching device, and a second electrically operated valve forcontrolling the admission of fluid to the main fluid cylinder and to therelay, of means for Copies of this patent may be obtained for preventingthe first valve from operating the unlatching device until the secondvalve has admitted fluid to the main cylinder and to the relay.

7. The combination with a pantograph trolley, means for operating thetrolley including a main fluid-actuated device for lowering and forpreventing the rapid raising of the trolley, means for raising saidtrolley, unlatching means including a fluidoperated device, apneumatically operated relay for controlling the operation of theunlatching device, and a fluid connection between the relay and the mainfluid-actuated device and having two diaphragms provided with smallopenings to prevent the rapid passage of the fluid, of a valve connectedto the fluid connection between said diaphragms for controlling theoperation of the relay and the main fluid-actuated device to effect atemporary supply and subsequent slow release of fluid to and from therelay and main fluid-actuated device to insure a slow raising of thetrolley.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 28thday of Aug, 1915.

WILLIAM SCHAAKE, ANDREW H. CANDEE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. G."

